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The front pages of antebellum newspapers were printed from blocks of text that in turn were made up of individual lead letters. These blocks were put together in columns and the whole assembly held in a large wooden frame. This front page from the Greenfield Gazette & Franklin Herald contained a number of articles. Some were current news, but others, like the article on the far left ("Moral and Religious"), were composed weeks in advance. The current articles hinted at the larger events of the world. For example, an article describes how Simon Bolivar, "The Liberator" of South America, was making his last attempt to retake Colombia in 1830. Another article described the plight of the Cherokee Nation. The Cherokees, one of the "Five Civilized Tribes," sought to make peace with the United States and retain possesion of their land in the southeast United States. Although they won in the Supreme Court, President Andrew Jackson allowed Georgia to brutally resettle them to Oklahoma along the "Trail of Tears" five years after this account.

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